Gottfried Reiner

Overview

Dr. Gottfried Reiner is a 44-year-old chemist at the University of Vienna who serves the Brotherhood as a producer of neurotoxins and preservation fluids. However, Reiner does not understand the true nature of his work.

Herzfeld has told Reiner that he is developing revolutionary anaesthetics for surgical use. The “volunteers” are, in Reiner’s understanding, terminal patients seeking merciful death. Reiner is brilliant but naive; he has never visited the sealed anatomical theatre and has never seen how his chemicals are actually used.

Physical Description

A thin man with the perpetually tired appearance of someone who spends long hours in a laboratory. Thinning hair, ink-stained hands (from chemical work, not writing), thick spectacles magnifying nervous blue eyes. He dresses in a worn academic coat stained with various chemical substances. His personal hygiene is adequate but not a priority — his focus is entirely on his work.

Statistics

Skills

• Science (Chemistry) 85%
• Science (Pharmacy) 75%
• Library Use 60%
• German (Native) 90%
• French 60%
• Latin 55%

Personality

Brilliant but compartmentalized. Reiner has never asked difficult questions about the true nature of his work because he has constructed a plausible narrative that allows him to avoid moral discomfort. He is a good man who is capable of terrible acts because he refuses to see their true nature.

Key Traits:

• Brilliant: Exceptional chemist capable of innovative work
• Naive: Accepts Herzfeld’s explanations without scrutiny
• Focused: Absorbed in the technical challenges of his work
• Rationalization: Has constructed a moral framework that permits him to produce these chemicals

Daily Patterns

What Reiner Has Produced

• Neurotoxins (3 variants): Paralyzing agents that render victims conscious but unable to move. Each variant has different duration (hours to weeks) and intensity of effect.
• Preservation Fluids: Designed to keep human tissue alive and functional in the Engine’s biological components. These fluids are remarkably effective and represent genuine scientific innovation.
• Sedatives: For managing victims during the early stages of integration before full paralysis sets in.

What Reiner Doesn’t Know

• The true nature of the “volunteers”
• That victims remain fully conscious after paralysis
• How his chemicals are actually used in the Engine integration process
• The existence of the Harmonic Engine itself (Herzfeld has been deliberately vague)
• That he is producing tools for systematic atrocity

Vulnerabilities

Conscience: Reiner’s greatest vulnerability is his fundamental goodness. If confronted directly with evidence of what his chemicals are actually used for — with testimony from survivors, or with direct observation of the Engine — he will experience a complete moral breakdown.

Once shown evidence, Reiner will:

1. Deny it (reflexive denial)
2. Rationalize (construct alternative explanations)
3. Attempt to verify it independently
4. Break completely when confronted with undeniable proof

After Breakdown: Reiner will be profoundly devastated but also potentially cooperative. He will:

• Admit everything he knows
• Provide detailed information about the chemical compositions and how they work
• Offer to help find ways to counteract the paralytic toxins
• Possibly attempt suicide from guilt (unless restrained)

Interactions with PCs

If Encountered at University

Reiner will be polite, distracted, and willing to discuss chemistry in technical terms. He will not volunteer information about Herzfeld or the Brotherhood but will discuss his research in vague terms.

If Directly Questioned About Brotherhood Activities

Reiner will become defensive and suspicious. He will protect Herzfeld because he genuinely believes in the “medical research” narrative. He will not reveal anything voluntarily.

If Shown Evidence of Atrocity

Reiner’s moral structure will collapse. Depending on how the evidence is presented, he will either:

• Experience acute emotional breakdown and become useless for interrogation
• Attempt to rationalize the evidence (requires Persuade or Psychology to overcome)
• Become angry at Herzfeld for deceiving him and cooperate fully

Session Appearances

Reiner should not appear directly in early sessions. References to his work (the unique properties of the neurotoxins, the unusual chemical orders to the University) can be uncovered through investigation. By Session 9–10, if the party is searching for ways to counteract the paralytic toxins, Reiner may become relevant as a source of technical information.

Final Notes

Reiner represents the category of intelligent, essentially good person who enables atrocity through compartmentalization and deliberate self-deception. He is not evil, but he is culpable. If given the opportunity, he can become an asset to the party — his chemical knowledge can help counteract the Engine’s properties, develop antitoxins, or understand how the Engine actually works.

[!info] Keeper Only Reiner’s conversion from enemy to asset is possible but requires careful handling. If you want to use him as an informant, present the evidence of atrocity in a way that forces moral reckoning but leaves him with a way to regain moral standing through cooperation. Appeals to his scientific integrity (“Help us understand and counteract what you created”) are more effective than appeals to guilt (“You murdered these people”).

Relationships

• Serves Albin Herzfeld — Produces neurotoxins; believes victims are willing terminal patients
• Member of Brotherhood of the Open Measure — Outer circle member; unaware of Engine's true nature